News and Views-February 18, 2007

[Tragic Rabbit]

AwesomeDude News & Views

Week of February 18th

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Secrets and Fries

Commentary by TR, AD?s Voice of Whimsy

Well, boys and girls (and girly boys), now that Oprah has let us in on her Secret, TR is super-jazzed and ready to help implement that whole magical-optimism-and-awesome-results thing at AwesomeDude.

What?s the Secret? Nothing new, it turns out, just the power of positive thinking, of daily affirmations and of those age-old magical laws of attraction, et cetera. There?s evidence that the law of attraction was used by Beethoven, Einstein and even Jesus, but you?ve probably already used it in your own life: like gravity, the Law of Attraction works whether you?re aware of, or believe in, it or not.

Meaning what, in plain non-peanut English, you ask?

Meaning, just like those avant-garde acid-dropping dropouts kept telling us in the 60s, we create our own realities: every day, every hour, every minute.

Are you miserable and lonely? Are you stymied on a story, squashed under a writer?s granite block or, facing options, just overwhelmed with input?

Okay, but instead of sulking, ask yourself what you're doing that makes those the realities you see and experience?

So how?s this ?Secret? aka Law of Attraction work, Rabbit? The two main schools of thought on that are:

? The Spiritual Explanation:

Many people believe that the Law of Attraction works by aligning God or the Universe with our wishes. We are all made of energy, and our energy operates at different frequencies. We can change our frequency of energy with positive thoughts, especially gratitude for what we already have. By using grateful, positive thoughts and feelings and by focusing on our dreams (rather than our frustrations), we can change the frequency of our energy, and the law of attraction brings positive things (things of that frequency) into our lives. What we attract depends on where and how we focus our attention, but we must believe that it?s already ours, or soon will be.

? The Traditionally Scientific Explanation:

If you?re one who needs things to be a little easier to prove, there is also a different explanation for how the law of attraction works. By focusing on attaining a new reality, and by believing it is possible, we tend to take more risks, notice more opportunities, and open ourselves up to new possibilities. Conversely, when we don?t believe that something is in the realm of possibilities for us, we tend to let opportunities pass by unnoticed. When we believe we don?t deserve good things, we behave in ways that sabotage our chances at happiness. By changing our self-talk and feelings about life, we reverse the negative patterns in our lives and create more positive, productive and healthy ones. One good thing leads to another, and the direction of a life can shift from a downward spiral to an upward ascent.

And, yeah, it does work. Whatever the underlying reason, reams of anecdotal evidence confirm that the law of attraction is real.

For them science-minded folks out there, research does seem to support the Law of Attraction as well. For example, research on optimism shows that optimists enjoy better health, greater happiness, and more success in life. (The advantage that optimists share is that they focus their thoughts on their successes and mentally minimize their failures.)

One of the foundations of psych therapy is that changing your self-pep-talk vocab can change your life in a positive direction. And, of course, millions of people have found success with positive affirmations.

So, you see? Unlike Ginsu Knives and Thigh Masters, this really works?and it?s free!

So, to recap, this so-called Secret ticket is a kind of magical thinking that, according to Oprah and lotsa dead smart guys, actually does work. It?s called the Law of Attraction but it has nothing, or not much, to do with how you feel when looking at a cute guy. It has to do with one thing attracting another like thing, with good stuff attracting good stuff and bad vibes being disharmonious and unproductive.

Yeah, it?s a bunch a? New Age yadda-yadda, or else very Old Age yadda-yadda, but maybe it?s something YOU can use today, in the here-and-now.

Now that we all understand the Law of Attraction, we can harness this superpower in our lives. A first step would be to test our own thought habits to see whether we tend toward optimism or pessimism and learn more about changing that thought channel.

Start today, boys and girls; your future is in your hands!

Okay, you say, what the duck does this have to do with my AwesomeDude updates and did you hijack N&V again this week, you pesky wabbit?

In a word, no. Yes. Maybe. Consider it our pep talk for the week, kiddos, so no squirming: give the Secret a minute of your time.

Read, enjoy and relax, your (late) AD updates are next. Fantastic stories and serial chapters by the best authors online? um, would you like fries with that?

New Serial Stories and Chapters

When He Was Five, by Cole Parker: updated, revised and available at AwesomeDude, now at Chapter 2!

Josiah Jacobus-Parker?s spooky new novel, The Kept, updates exclusively at AD to Chapter 4!

Nickolas James? revised Bodega Bay updates to Chapters 13 and 14!

Joel?s Mystery and Mayhem at St Marks updates exclusively at AwesomeDude to Chapter 17!

Captain Rick?s Sky?s the Limit updates to Chapter 18!

and?

Could you love a friend when he needs more than you know how to give?

New novel from Codey, From The Heart, complete at AD!

New Short Stories and Site Changes

New Short Stories this week include:

Two more stories from Graeme, ?Georgie Wants To Make Friends? and ?Secrets?! If you haven?t yet read his ?Homeless?, ?Dating Again? or any of his Family Snippets, look for those, too!

also?

?Sorry, We?re Together? from Nickolas James

?Time to Grow Up? by Jack Scribe

?The Card? by Camy?if you haven?t yet read his ?Nyquist? or ?What Do You Think??, catch those while they?re still on the top front page of AwesomeDude!

NEW!! FEEDBACK FORMS FOR READERS!

Newly introduced at AwesomeDude, courtesy of The Dude and Camy, our resident online Emu, are user-friendly feedback forms at the end of short stories and current chapters of serialized novels (or last chapter, if complete)! These can be filled out anonymously, easily and quickly after reading a short story or chapter you particularly enjoy!

They are being attached now to current shorts and chapters and The Dude will backdate these through our entire AwesomeDude archive as time allows! If you see these, use them, take a sec to let the author know what you think of his work!

If you?re an author with questions about these, post in the Web Wiz Forum or contact The Dude at dude@awesomedude.com

SUBMISSIONS

If you?ve got a tale you?d like us to look at, send it to TR at story-editor@awesomedude.com after reading the updated Story Submission Guidelines on the AD front page. Always CC The Dude at dude@awesomedude.com.

Poetry Submission Guidelines have also been updated! Send poetry submissions to Gabe at poetry-editor@awesomedude.com

Okay, boys and girls, that's all the news that?ll fit. Have a great time reading! Next update will be for the week of February 25th.

Kisses?

TR

"Sometimes there?s a man, I won?t say a hero because what?s a hero, but I?m talking about The Dude here, and sometimes there?s a man and he?s the man for his time and place, he fits right in there, and that?s The Dude. ? ~The Big Lebowski

[Tanuki Racoon]

The link to Cole's latest chapter in his story (Five, Ch2) points to ch1 -- please fix. I replaced the 1 with a 2 so I could read it because I am clever like that.